Dickcissel

Description:

Rare to the western part of the united states.
Breeding males would look a little like Meadowlarks in color and pattern. This is a female spotted in a community garden. It was hanging around with House Sparrows. I witnessed a House Sparrow peck at this bird. It was slimmer then the House Sparrow and noticed the shorter bold stripes on the back, light colored stripe above the eye and mustache. Light colored throat and thick bill.

Habitat:

This one was spotted in with house sparrows hiding in bushes and feed in the open flat grass.

Notes:

3 (including one male) were spotted but by the time I got there only this female was left. We were waiting out a pair of Cooper's that created a drama with crows who were trying to chase them out.